by J. J. Stone
A throng of at least five nurses were gathered around the front desk. As the doctor approached, the nurses parted to allow him in, and that was when James came into view. He was leaning against the front desk, bellowing insults at the indignant receptionist perched in her chair behind the safety of the front desk. The waif-like 20-something crossed her arms and gave James a smirk as the doctor came up beside him and tried to pull James off the desk.
“You can’t hold me here!” James shouted directly into the doctor’s face, flinching him away effortlessly. The doctor took a deep breath and went back for James’s arm. James, who had turned his attention back to the prude behind the desk, snapped his eyes back to the doctor and brought the physician to a halt with an unblinking death glare. “Touch me again.”
The doctor held up his hands in disgust and looked to the receptionist. “Did you call security?”
The receptionist gave him a single nod, oozing self-righteous boredom. She resumed her stare-down with James, unimpressed by the agent’s fury.
The nurses started to crowd James again as the doctor stepped behind the front desk. James slammed his left fist down onto the raised front section of the desk with such force that Ada fully expected it to crumble to bits. The nurses recoiled as one. “Call security all you want. I’m an FBI agent. You have no authority.” James was starting to sound manic. He certainly looked the part, in a set of ill-fitting hospital scrubs and his FBI parka. His hair was jutting out in every direction and his eyes were fiery and wide.
Ada decided to step in before James went nuclear, even though she figured she had about as much control over him as the nurses. Her first steps toward the front desk were timid but became more sure when James glanced her way and his entire aura changed. Ada could have sworn she saw embarrassment sweep over him before he ducked his head and went back to glaring at the receptionist.
“What’s going on, James?” Ada asked as she came up beside him. She placed her hands on the raised front of the desk and angled toward him slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the receptionist shooting her an incredulous look and ignored it.
James mirrored the angle of her body and propped his elbow on the desk. “We’ve had a development in the case, and I need to get to the station.” He motioned to the doctor. “However, they seem to be under the impression that they can keep me here against my will.”
A small bead of blood emerged from the cuff of James’s parka sleeve and slid down his right hand. Ada gingerly hinged his right arm at the elbow, holding it upright. “Why are you bleeding?” she asked him in as even a tone as she could. She watched the blood reverse direction and slip back under his sleeve.
James glanced at his arm and shrugged. “They wouldn’t take the IV out.”
The doctor, sensing that Ada had at least momentarily calmed the raging animal, leaned toward her and spoke in a low, careful tone. “Agent Deacon needs to be monitored overnight. His shoulder may still need surgery. I’m also not convinced he can go without his painkillers for very long.”
“I’ve been off the pain meds since this morning. Maybe you should do your job and read my chart,” James said.
The doctor straightened and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck. He stared off into space, obviously trying to formulate a new plan of attack. The nurses, the doctor, and the receptionist all turned as one to the sound of approaching footsteps behind James.
“Security’s here,” Ada said, glancing up at James and raising a brow. She continued to hold his arm up.
James half-pivoted on his heels and sized up the nearing reinforcement. Ada squeezed her eyes shut and sighed as James released a sardonic gush of laughter. “You’re here to stop me?”
The security guard, a young man in his late 20s and at least a hundred pounds overweight, pulled himself up to the very last inch of his height, still coming up six inches short of meeting the bemused James eye to eye. “Sir, I’m escorting you back to your room. You’ve caused enough of a scene for today.”
“I’m all the way up on the fourth floor. You might have a heart attack by level two.” James shook his head and turned back to Ada. “Dade will be here any minute. Do you need a ride to the airport?”
Ada glanced quickly at the security guard, who was grasping at a proper response to James’s cruel jab, and shook her head. “The earliest my flight could leave is tomorrow.” She lowered her voice and forced him to look her in the eye. “What is going on?”
“I’ll tell you once we’re out of here,” James said. A car pulled up under the hospital entrance overhang and he looked at it excitedly until an elderly couple got out and shuffled toward the doors. He rolled his eyes and pulled his arm out of Ada’s grasp. “I need a phone.”
The receptionist huffed a single indignant sound that Ada assumed was supposed to be a laugh. “I’m sorry, sir, but you won’t be able to place any calls.” Her snide emphasis on “sir” sank into James like a dagger.
He slowly turned his face toward her, and Ada noticed the muscles in his jaw quivering. “You’re lucky you’re a girl and behind this desk.” His voice was dripping with shivering fury. His nostrils started flaring with each inhale.
“Sir, there’s no need to threaten—” The security guard choked on the rest of his sentence as James flew around to face him and closed the two feet of distance between them. The security guard was forced to tip his head back to an almost painful tilt just to force a half-hearted stern expression up at James.
“I know the badge makes you feel like you’re powerful,” James flicked the shiny gold plated emblem clipped to the front of the security guard’s shirt, “but do not think I won’t have every one of you morons in cuffs for impeding my discharge.” James’s mouth wrinkled up in one corner. “If you let me leave, I’ll have a few dozen donuts sent here for you.”
“OK, that’s enough.” Ada planted both hands against James’s back and herded him away from the desk. “We’ll be right over here,” she said to the doctor, who gave her a relieved wave.
Ada maneuvered James toward an empty corner of the lobby and forced him down to a chair. He slammed down into his seat and refused to look at her. “I could technically call this a timeout, given how childish you’re acting right now,” Ada said, crossing her arms and cocking her hip out.
James tapped his heel impatiently and looked around them. Satisfied that no one was in ear shot, he looked up at her. “Eli killed himself.”
Ada’s jaw fell a few centimeters. “What?” Her arms dropped and she lowered down into the seat opposite his. “Did he have a pill?”
“He had a peanut allergy and got a guard to give him a candy bar. He didn’t last two minutes.” James kneaded a hand against his brow, staring at a spot on the floor. “I wanted him out of here. I knew he’d find some way.”
The nurses at the front desk were bickering amongst themselves about who was responsible for allowing James to leave his room. Ada glanced at them and shook her head. “You can’t just leave, James. You’re not ready.” She cleared her throat at him and he looked up at her from under his hand. “Why did you think this was a good idea?”
James jabbed a finger down into the top of his thigh. “They cannot hold me here unless they have a valid medical reason, which they don’t.” He tossed an icy glare back at the front desk for good measure. “I have a mess to clean up at the station, I don’t need to be flat on my back in a hospital bed when there’s nothing wrong with me.”
Ada could sympathize with him. When the nurses told her she was allowed to leave, it had been music to her ears. However, James shot his chances of leaving early to hell by verbally assaulting every staff member he laid eyes on.
“I’m sure if you apologize and explain the situation, they’ll let you go.”
James gave her a textbook “Really?” look.
Ada stuck to her guns. “I’m s
erious. Go make things right, and then we’ll see about getting you out of here.”
James glared sideways at the doctor and nurses, and Ada knew that every part of him wanted to resist her order. His heel tapping built to a frantic rhythm until he flung his head back in defeat and heaved out of his chair. “Fine,” he said to Ada as he passed her. He jabbed her boot with his as he walked by and Ada caught a flash of his grin before it slipped from his face.
Ada watched him trod back to the front desk, hands held out in a show of neutrality. The receptionist grew even more aloof as James continued speaking to everyone huddled around the desk. Ada spotted James’s right fist curling tighter with each passing second and bit her lip to keep from chuckling.
——
Dade swung the SUV up under the awning and honked once. The hospital’s sliding doors parted and Ada and James stepped out into frigid air. Dade shook his head and chuckled at their outfits. “Sorry I couldn’t get some clothes over to you,” he said as James opened Ada’s door for her then climbed into the passenger seat.
James gingerly reached back for his seatbelt and secured it over himself. “I’m not in the mood.”
Dade frowned and glanced back at Ada for an explanation. She held up a weary hand and just shook her head. He let it go. “We’ve managed to keep Eli’s death from the press, for now.” Dade slowly pulled the car away from the hospital. “It’s only a matter of time, though.”
“What happened, exactly?” Ada asked.
“The officer I assigned to watch Eli thought he was going into shock because he told her he was diabetic. So she gave him a candy bar.” Dade looked up at her in the rearview mirror. “She’s pretty torn up about what happened.”
“Keep her away from me,” James said. He looked out at the passing buildings. The Christmas lights were beginning to flicker on in the twilight, bathing everything in a warm glow.
Dade gave his superior a once-over as they came to a red light. “For as severe a wreck as you two were in, you’re both looking pretty good.”
Ada gave Dade a quick grin. “I appreciate the compliment, but I have looked in a mirror recently.”
The SUV thunked down into a pothole as Dade pulled away from the light. The shift jostled James’s right arm into the car door. He grunted and cupped his left hand around his injured arm’s elbow.
“Are you sure you’re good?” Dade asked, his brow creasing as he watched James draw a round of sharp breaths.
James nodded and slowly pulled his hand away. “Just bruised.”
Dade suppressed an eye roll and turned onto the police station’s road. “We towed your car back, by the way. I don’t think you two realize how lucky you are.” He pointed to a far corner of the station’s parking lot. “It’s parked over there.”
As they pulled up to the station, James and Ada got a full view of their decimated SUV. Its contorted front looked like someone had wrung it like a wet cloth. The crumpled heap of metal and glass was a stark reminder of their ordeal. Ada felt her eyes moisten as they drove past the wrecked car and pulled up to the station. The breadth of the crash hit her full force and she fought to keep her emotions in check. Through the small slit of space between James’s seat and the door, Ada saw her haunted grief mirrored in his vacant stare out the window.
Dade turned the car off and got ready to leave when he noticed the solemn state of his colleagues. He let them sit in silence for a few moments then cleared his throat quietly. “You’re both here. That’s what matters.”
A raucous mob of reporters suddenly enveloped the SUV, faces jamming around every window as camera lights attempted to pierce the car’s window tint. A large number of news cameras gathered at the front of the SUV, filming through the windshield. Ada shrunk back behind the safety of Dade’s seat, desperate to keep out of the camera crosshairs.
“I guess Brenda couldn’t keep them away,” Dade said. He snapped his seat belt off and zipped up his parka. “Give me a second.” He shoved his door open, knocking a few reporters away from the car. A camera flashed repeatedly at James in the few seconds that Dade’s door was open. James kept his gaze on the floor until the door shut, sealing him and Ada back in the momentary safety of the SUV.
“Why are we so interesting?” Ada asked. She flinched as a reporter was pushed into her window by the throng, her mic smacking into the glass.
“You saw the car.” James scooted around in his seat to face her. “Just don’t say anything to them. I’ll make a statement about everything before we leave.”
Ada nodded and flicked her panicked gaze back to her window. The camera lights provided an almost constant coating of white light. She gasped as a male reporter started shouting questions at the car, not realizing he was inches from her.
“Hey.” James snapped his fingers at her and she made herself focus on him. “Stick with me when we get out.”
Ada nodded and suppressed another flinch as a second reporter joined in with questions. “They can’t get a picture of me. If Bridges sees that I was here—”
Someone knocked rapidly on James’s window, and he turned back to see Dade waving him out. Behind Dade, a handful of officers were attempting to part the sea of news crews. James nodded to Dade and looked back over his shoulder at Ada. “I’m going to open your door. Stay with me and keep your head down.”
Ada watched him open his door and winced at the volume increase in the reporters’ frenzy. She pulled her sweater tighter around herself and wished she still had her parka. The hood would have provided excellent protection from the incriminating cameras. She scooted up to her door and ducked her head as James reached for the handle. She inhaled as the door rushed open and icy air mixed with dozens of voices pounding against her. James’s hand wrapped around her forearm and gently tugged her from the car.
As her boots crunched into the snow, she glanced up and saw that James was standing inches from her, shielding her from view of the cameras. He unzipped his parka and held one side open. “Get under here as much as you can.”
Bypassing the initial flash of discomfort at their proximity, Ada pressed herself against his side and shrunk against him as best she could. Her arms carefully wrapped around his torso as James cloaked her with his parka and turned them toward the station. Through the parka’s insulation, the reporters’ cries sounded like they were being played through wads of cotton. Ada concentrated on not tripping herself and James with her awkward strides across the icy parking lot and sidewalk. She inhaled sharply as her foot went sideways on a slick patch of concrete. James adjusted his grip on her and pulled her upright, mashing her even harder against his side. She knew how bruised his ribs were and hated that he was putting himself through this.
James shouted at a reporter who must have stepped into his path. With her ear pressed to his chest, his voice sounded loud in an oddly muffled way. When his voice died, she noticed his heartbeat for the first time. She became strangely focused on it. The steady thumps calmed her.
The protective curtain of James’s parka suddenly fell away as he shoved a reporter out of their path to the station. Ada cried out as cameras clicked and flashed her with doubled intensity. She hid her face completely between his arm and torso, but knew that at least a shot or two had gotten her face. Dread hit her like a freight train.
Warm air gushed against her back and she glanced in front of her to see Brenda holding one of the station doors open. James and Ada stumbled into the station, and the noise of the crowd was snuffed out as two officers wedged the doors shut.
For a moment, Ada didn’t move. Her mind raced to catch up and her mouth fell open as she worked to steady her breathing. A hand pressed against the small of her back, and a voice filled her ears. She looked in the direction of the voice and met James’s narrowed emerald eyes. “Are you OK?” he asked her again.
She realized she was still pressed tightly to him. Che
eks glowing crimson, she unlocked her hands and pulled away. His hand fell away from her back and her muscles twitched after his touch left. She nodded at him and bowed her head, hoping he would attribute her blush to the cold air.
Brenda came up to them and carefully placed her arm around Ada’s shoulders, keeping her turned away from the reporters and their cameras. “We need to get out of the lobby.”
CHAPTER 19
As the plane began its descent to the Sea-Tac airport, Ada pulled a small mirror from her purse and inspected her cheek. The bruises had faded to a point where she could completely mask them with makeup. While Uncle Mike knew she had been in a wreck, she didn’t really want him to see the extent of her injuries. She wouldn’t put it past him to fly out to Virginia to give James a piece of his mind.
Satisfied that her makeup had stayed in place, Ada put the mirror away and tossed her purse into the empty seat beside her. She looked out the window at the twinkling lights of civilization below. It was the week of Christmas, and even from her current altitude she could see the brilliant twinkles of the festive light displays sprinkled throughout neighborhoods and city streets. She couldn’t wait to head out to the island and spend the next few days with her uncle.
The plane’s captain announced their impending arrival, his slight drone echoing through the drowsy silence of the cabin. Ada looked away from the window and pressed back into her seat. As elated as she was to be back, it wasn’t the same homecoming she had grown accustomed to. It had taken an additional two days for her to leave Milwaukee. At that point, Ada had known her teaching job was gone. She had missed the first two days of final exams. She hadn’t heard anything from Dean Bridges yet, but Tiffany had emailed her to let her know that she was hearing murmurs among the faculty.
Every time the team had asked her about the situation back home, she maintained the facade that everything was fine. It wasn’t their problem. Between the crash and Eli’s suicide, they had enough to worry about. She didn’t need to add her job loss to the pile.
